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Sonnet Digital Audio: New kid on the block, well.. not really!
Mar 8, 2022 at 12:00 PM Post #1,037 of 1,507
It's an old DAC now and newer Sonnet is talk of town but I thought to publish what I wrote for a local FB group. The DAC is owned by me and no one loans me anything.

Sonnet Morpheus - DAC For An Acquired Taste

Chain - Pi2AES powered by Uptone Ultracaps LPS 1.2 and Allo Shanti -> Sonnet Morpheus (I2S) -> ECP Ravenswood DSHA3F-> ZMF VC Ironwood

Music source - Qobuz via Roon

Current DAC - Sonnet Morpheus, Schiit Bifrost 2, Airist R2R DAC

Previous DAC - Schiit Gungnir Multibit, Chord Qutest, Metrum Pavane, Metrum Onyx

Pros-
  1. Nice Tonality and Timbre
  2. Great MicroDynamics
  3. Excellent detail retrieval
  4. Relaxed and non Offensive
Cons -
  1. Relaxed and Soft
  2. Good soundstage but mostly on same Plane
  3. Need at least 24hrs of warmup time to sound best
  4. USB input is not good and hence need DDC or quality streamer

Overall Tonality - Warm and Thick with liquid mids. Treble details are there but it doesn’t shimmer and sparkle. Bass goes deep and is present but doesn’t slap and hence this DAC requires careful pairing otherwise you may end up with very euphonic or relaxed system.

Micro-details - When I say relaxed it doesn’t mean that microdetails are missing in anyways for eg while listening to

IMG_8820.jpeg


You can get all the rough edges around the raw vocals of the singer and is such a great joy to listen to such fine gradation and detail in vocals. Also tons of planktons. You can feel the vibrations of membrane of drums when they hit it. It’s pure joy. The decay of instrument is bit longer and with my hardwood ZMF VC it’s a perfect match as harder wood are more direct sounding and this DAC adds a bit of decay bringing back hall like listening.

Macro-details - Bass goes deep but the impact sometime is missing. So it may come across as polite DAC. Upper treble is slightly muted but difficult to describe as I hear all the details coming. When you will listen to “Rage Against The Machine”, you will enjoy the music but you won’t be banging your head.

P.S When I say punch it’s below punch that’s missing
IMG_8851.jpeg


Now do you want to get punched this hard is upto you.

Vocals - biggest strength of Metrum and Sonnet DAC. In one word beautiful. Organic and thick. I'm not sure what else one would need as far as mids go. Listening to” Countdown To Extinction” , the DAC gives good weight to Dave’s vocals.

Soundstage & Layering - Listening to “The World Is A Ghetto” is an experience with this DAC with soundstage enveloping you. The layering and imaging of instruments is rendered with near perfection. Very easy to position and discern each instrument in the mix. But if you have to complain then yes the height could have been better. It feels more like in same plane with instrument spaced out width wise and depth wise. Just I feel drummer should feel a bit higher in some songs then the DAC renders. Layering is good but the singer is always perceived in front as the vocals is quiet forward on this DAC but still not as forward as Metrum Onyx in a good way.

Cons - well listening to “Jeremy” from Ten by Pearl Jam will show both the positive and negative side of the DAC. The whole song is great listening via Morpheus but when the song reaches its crescendo it is supposed to send our pulse racing and us moving to the edge of the chair but with Morpheus I was still relaxed with those musical notes. My pulse was not racing and it may be because this is too musical a DAC and due to slightly softer presentation it will never take you in overspin.

Who should get this DAC

  1. If you enjoy listening to micro details with tons of new information then get this DAC
  2. If your system is overly bright then get this DAC and you won’t look back
  3. You have speaker and amp that’s too dynamic then get this DAC
  4. Enjoy vocals then get this DAC
Who should look elsewhere
  1. You already have a softer sounding system
  2. You enjoy slap and impact of bass
  3. Enjoy slightly bright sound quality
Comparison with other DAC-

Nah…not enough energy to take out and replace it with other DAC and then weight for warm up. Too much work and time waste.
 
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Mar 8, 2022 at 12:40 PM Post #1,040 of 1,507
ken6217 said:
You have relaxed as a pro and a con.
Click to expand...
:) For me this kind of Sound signature is a positive as I'm low level listener and like relaxed system but I can see it as con for someone who wants slightly exaggerated dynamic sound.
 
Mar 9, 2022 at 11:12 AM Post #1,043 of 1,507
kumar402 said:
It's an old DAC now and newer Sonnet is talk of town but I thought to publish what I wrote for a local FB group. The DAC is owned by me and no one loans me anything.

Sonnet Morpheus - DAC For An Acquired Taste

Chain - Pi2AES powered by Uptone Ultracaps LPS 1.2 and Allo Shanti -> Sonnet Morpheus (I2S) -> ECP Ravenswood DSHA3F-> ZMF VC Ironwood

Music source - Qobuz via Roon

Current DAC - Sonnet Morpheus, Schiit Bifrost 2, Airist R2R DAC

Previous DAC - Schiit Gungnir Multibit, Chord Qutest, Metrum Pavane, Metrum Onyx

Pros-
  1. Nice Tonality and Timbre
  2. Great MicroDynamics
  3. Excellent detail retrieval
  4. Relaxed and non Offensive
Cons -
  1. Relaxed and Soft
  2. Good soundstage but mostly on same Plane
  3. Need at least 24hrs of warmup time to sound best
  4. USB input is not good and hence need DDC or quality streamer

Overall Tonality - Warm and Thick with liquid mids. Treble details are there but it doesn’t shimmer and sparkle. Bass goes deep and is present but doesn’t slap and hence this DAC requires careful pairing otherwise you may end up with very euphonic or relaxed system.

Micro-details - When I say relaxed it doesn’t mean that microdetails are missing in anyways for eg while listening to



You can get all the rough edges around the raw vocals of the singer and is such a great joy to listen to such fine gradation and detail in vocals. Also tons of planktons. You can feel the vibrations of membrane of drums when they hit it. It’s pure joy. The decay of instrument is bit longer and with my hardwood ZMF VC it’s a perfect match as harder wood are more direct sounding and this DAC adds a bit of decay bringing back hall like listening.

Macro-details - Bass goes deep but the impact sometime is missing. So it may come across as polite DAC. Upper treble is slightly muted but difficult to describe as I hear all the details coming. When you will listen to “Rage Against The Machine”, you will enjoy the music but you won’t be banging your head.

P.S When I say punch it’s below punch that’s missing


Now do you want to get punched this hard is upto you.

Vocals - biggest strength of Metrum and Sonnet DAC. In one word beautiful. Organic and thick. I'm not sure what else one would need as far as mids go. Listening to” Countdown To Extinction” , the DAC gives good weight to Dave’s vocals.

Soundstage & Layering - Listening to “The World Is A Ghetto” is an experience with this DAC with soundstage enveloping you. The layering and imaging of instruments is rendered with near perfection. Very easy to position and discern each instrument in the mix. But if you have to complain then yes the height could have been better. It feels more like in same plane with instrument spaced out width wise and depth wise. Just I feel drummer should feel a bit higher in some songs then the DAC renders. Layering is good but the singer is always perceived in front as the vocals is quiet forward on this DAC but still not as forward as Metrum Onyx in a good way.

Cons - well listening to “Jeremy” from Ten by Pearl Jam will show both the positive and negative side of the DAC. The whole song is great listening via Morpheus but when the song reaches its crescendo it is supposed to send our pulse racing and us moving to the edge of the chair but with Morpheus I was still relaxed with those musical notes. My pulse was not racing and it may be because this is too musical a DAC and due to slightly softer presentation it will never take you in overspin.

Who should get this DAC

  1. If you enjoy listening to micro details with tons of new information then get this DAC
  2. If your system is overly bright then get this DAC and you won’t look back
  3. You have speaker and amp that’s too dynamic then get this DAC
  4. Enjoy vocals then get this DAC
Who should look elsewhere
  1. You already have a softer sounding system
  2. You enjoy slap and impact of bass
  3. Enjoy slightly bright sound quality
Comparison with other DAC-

Nah…not enough energy to take out and replace it with other DAC and then weight for warm up. Too much work and time waste.
Click to expand...
Good info here, and I agree it does take careful pairing (cables, tubes, amps and headphones). I have heard my Morpheus sound quite warm and thick (actually too warm) and soft in the bass with some pairings and others were just right.

I am getting all the bass slam I could ever want, from my Atticus and VC with my Morpheus paired up with a ZMF Pendant SE and Rogue RH-5. It took some tube rolling in both amps to find that bass slam and punch, but it's sure there now.

I think pairing a good neutral tube amp (hybrid or OTL or SET) known for good dynamics, is a great way to go with the Morpheus.
 
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Mar 10, 2022 at 1:09 PM Post #1,045 of 1,507
ken6217 said:
If anyone is interested, I am selling my Morpheus and Metrum Pavane with DAC2 chips. I'm actually getting away from the hobby and selling all of my gear. PM me if interested. Thanks.
Click to expand...
sad to see you go....Hopefully you will still visit head-fi
 
Mar 10, 2022 at 6:12 PM Post #1,047 of 1,507
ken6217 said:
If anyone is interested, I am selling my Morpheus and Metrum Pavane with DAC2 chips. I'm actually getting away from the hobby and selling all of my gear. PM me if interested. Thanks.
Click to expand...
What HP amp is in play here?
 
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